FRP default: Maharashtra likely to issue notices to nine sugar mills

The season in Maharashtra this year has been pretty tough.

At least eight sugar mills are under the scanner for selling the sweetener in more quantity than the prescribed limit.

The Maharashtra Sugar Commissionerate is likely to issue issuing the Revenue and Recovery Code (RRC) to nine factories for defaulting on fair and remunerative price (FRP) payments even after taking benefit of the Centre’s soft loan scheme.Sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said there are some factories that have defaulted on FRP payments even after receiving soft loan funds in farmer accounts. These new notices will be issued to factories soon, he said. Three of these factories are in Kolhapur, two each in Pune and Nanded and one each in Aurangabad and Solapur.These notices could not be sent because of the Model Code of Conduct, but 52 RRC notices have been issued to factories.As per the latest FRP arrears report of April 15, `4,324.4 crore remain in FRP payments to farmers, which means 18% of dues still remain at the end of this season. The total FRP payment comes up to `21,934.17 crore. Of this, factories have paid farmers `17,928.40 crore, which is 82% of total FRP. Around 195 factories participated in crushing this season to crush 950.30 lakh tonne of cane to produce 107 lakh tonne of sugar.As per the report, 161 factories have defaulted on FRP payments. Only 34 factories have made 100% FRP payments, 77 have made 80-99% payments, 49 have made 60-79% payments and 35 have paid less than 60% cane payments to farmers. The FRP dues from the last season came up to `249.53 crore.Maharashtra has once again crossed 10.7 mn tonne in terms of sugar production in 2018-19, making two years in a row.The season in Maharashtra this year has been pretty tough. At least eight sugar mills are under the scanner for selling the sweetener in more quantity than the prescribed limit.

Of 195 sugar mills in the state, 10 were found to have sold more than 100% of their prescribed sales quota. This led to other millers raising doubts as to how these mills were able to do so when others were not able to find buyers for their product, Shekhar Gaikwad, Maharashtra sugar commissioner, had told FE. Investigations have revealed that 8 of these 10 mills had sold more than their allotted quota and the matter will be reported to the Centre, he said.